J. R. Wilson

This temporary OK to the budget and debt ceiling just emboldens Obama to do whatever he wishes - and the idiot liberals (and way too many "career" Republican politicians) will follow like lemmings - taking us to the cliff - where we are being led - to jump off! Enjoy your days, folks - as FREEDOM we are used to it is QUICKLY slipping away! Immigration is next - BAD IDEA - and then Martial Law and who knows what else?

David Winter

J.R. Wilson. What planet do you live on? Obama just stepped aside because there wasn't anything he could do to appease the Tea Party. This was almost a 100% Republican show of self-gratifying stupidity. I'll give you credit for your sense of humor ending up with Martial Law following some "out there" sense of logic. I'm just pleased that I can still laugh after having watched the news while our government seemed to think they had nothing better to do than stop our nation dead in its tracks.

Bill Buechner

And when your checks stop coming because we are broke whose fault will it be then???????????? Our Nation NEEDED to be stopped dead in its tracks. If you cant figure out that we are about to go broke, then it becomes even more obvious that "Simple math" to quote a well worn liberal phrase obviously was not your strong suit in school.

American Veteran

J.R. Wilson lives on planet Earth. He recognizes that there is actually only ONE political party. Carroll Quigley, Georgetown mentor to Bill Clinton, wrote:

The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can "throw the rascals out" at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy.

The bit about martial law is no joke. Is it certain to happen? No. Can it happen? Yes. It HAS happened before (Lincoln) and Obama certainly has issued the executive orders giving himself the authority to do so. Obama is certainly working to "mold" the military into one more likely to do his bidding. Have you noticed some of the firings to occur recently? Have you noticed the big push toward "political correctness" which has been ongoing?

Perhaps it is you, David Winter, who lives on another planet. You just may end up regretting your laughter as the dollar crashes and life in America as we know it comes to an end. If calling for accountability makes the Tea Party extremist, while borrowing and spending like the sky's the limit is mainstream, I'll take extremist every time.

cypaugh56

This may not have happened if the Republicans would spend time working instead of taking vacation at time when the country needed answer. They were fighting Obamacare knowing that there is nothing that can be done until Obama leaves office. What we need is Bill Clinton but since that is not possible Hilliary is the next best thing. So watch out!!!!

Bill Buechner

Ahhhhh. I believe the leader of our country sets the tone here. He was playing golf will congress was in session trying to avert the entire shut down. Broke my heart to learn his Bali trip got cancelled because of the "shutdown" Get your facts right!

Bill Robbins

JR, Sir you get it. Our Legion should be going after the CESSPOOL and BOTTOM DWELLERS of washington dc. I do respect all the positions they hold but as far as them being for us THE PEOPLE they ALL SUCK!

Grady Olson

There will always be a funding problem until the Obama Health Care program is removed and replaced by a non-partisan health care program. presently NO Republicans were able to debate or present amendments. This Great country of ours was designed for debate. The Senate illegally made it a simple majority to ignore the people and achieve their own agenda. Please stand by our true Conservatives.

Ken Weaver

What a silly entry. The ACA was debated for two years. The Republicans offered many amendments, but few were constructive. The amendment offered by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley to have Congress and their staffs get their healthcare insurance through the new exchanges was meant to be another deal-killer, but the Democrats accepted that amendment (notice that what Grassley offered is silent on whether or not the government would make a change in the subsidy offered to these employees).

Even though the "mandate" idea originated with the conservative Heritage Foundation, and was implemented by Romney in Massachusetts (where it's working just fine), Republicans opposed it at every turn for fear it would be a success attributed to Obama. Also, the ACA reduces the growth in healthcare costs (Obama called it "bending the curve"), so that the deficits will be less with Obamacare than without it.

It will be interesting to see if the Republicans will still call it Obamacare in 2016 when it is as popular as Medicare...

Albert Palmer Short

Judging by the vote we have a lot of pessimists. And actually I'm torn between the two.My heart says the nay sayers will come to their senses as they did in 1936 when Social Security was doomed to failure they cried. And in 1965 when once again they predicted Medicare would never work. Hopefully we won't have to go through that again. Both Social Security and Medicare had a rough start but ask anyone on the street from the dwindling middle class how they would do w/o the both of them.. . But getting back to my dilemma, my heart says yes we will work it out but my head just can't make up it's mind. Only time will tell.

American Veteran

I ain't so sure either Social Security or Medicare is actually working. Right now, it is robbing Peter to pay Paul. The number of workers paying in is declining and the number collecting is climbing and will climb fast as the "boomers" come of age. Health care is very expensive and there are a number of reasons why. Medicare is ONE of those reasons. And yes, insurance companies are another. Medicare, like all insurance, involves a middleman. Your grocery bill would be higher if you hired someone to buy your groceries for you. Gas for your car would cost more if you hired someone to take your car to the gas station for you.

How would people cope without Social Security or Medicare? Well, if they were actually given a choice, you just might be surprised! As it is, that choice is removed when they earn their first dollar.

Prof. David C Allen, Chaplain

When you have 2 leaders who refuse to do there job there is no way it will ever be solved. Obama and Reid only have one thing on their mind how can we spend, spend, spend. The Affordable Care Act is the largest piece of tax legislation that was rammed down our throats. Well, now that it is falling apart and people are realizing what it really is, hopefully they will revolt about it. An article I read from a California paper quoted a lady who voted both times for Obama and was told by her insurance company that her insurance was going to cost her $1,800 more a month, she said "I didn't know I was going to have to pay for this" I know personally 5 families that have had their insurance canceled because it did not comply with ACA and the policy offered to them was more then they could afford. So much if you like your insurance you can keep your insurance.

Jack S

My employer & I paid 15% of my income for 50 years into Social Security. If I had that money & invested it conservatively, I'd have a big retirement. But the government spent it on other things and never made any investments. Medicare is another thing - it is a big entitlement.

Joel Aanensen

If the government hadn't confiscated money from both my employer and me for my working life I would be far better off than collecting SS. If they would like to refund all the money they confiscated I would cheerfully give up SS and medicare !!!!

Jim Cherry

I, for one, will give up my social security checks if that crew of idiots in control of the Senate and the House will in fact fix the federal government's spending problem, and do it without raising tax rates. They could, for instance, get rid of the Dept of Education, which has had zero positive effect on educational outcomes for its entire existence. And the Dept of Energy, which has done nothing to improve the national energy picture. And the Dept of Agriculture, which does little other than pass out food stamps. And of course, get rid of Obamacare, which does nothing to improve healthcare, but which does drastically raise insurance premiums for most people.

Independent

American Veteran

Like others said, I PAID for Social Security over the course of many years, not because I wanted to, but because I was forced to. I was extorted money that could have given some VERY significant return in my 401k.

S. Mary Revels

I hope so. I don't want to go through what we just went through AGAIN!! All our income comes from the Government because my husband was active duty for 37 years and I was a Federal employee for 20 years. Even so our income doesn't cover his nursing home costs and without our monthly income I wouldn't know what to do.

This I Defend

Until we can get the politicans to understand that these huge cover everything in one bill budgets aren't working anymore, this "CR" stuff will continue to hurt us. Will that happen? A few repub's tried, but, of course Barry and Harry don't like that.
2014 and 2016 are going to be very important for the future of this great country.
God Bless.

J R R

I believe J R Wilson got it right! I'm just glad that I have lived most of my life already. Don't know if I can take much more of what's coming down the road. The Bible says a nation which honors God will prosper, but since we have abandoned him, we are destined to fall.

jl Walen

Fact # 1 My Granddaughter was paying 11% interest rate on her student loans when Bush was President.
Under Obama her interest rate dropped to 4%. Which would you rather pay Billy Joe Patroit.
Fact# 2 Bush was not respected by many world leaders. Obama has changed our world image. This is good. Obama awarded Nobel!! What award did Bush receive??
Comment--Obama walked into one big mess, and in my opinion has done an outstanding job getting the USA back on the right track. And he did this when the speaker of the house fought him all the way. Thank you Obama and God bless America.

Bill Buechner

LOL. ARE YOU SERIOUS? What about Libya, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Russia they all think Obama is weak and can't be trusted. Even Israel is freaking out because of the incompetence of this man and his administration. Good for you, your interest rate dropped to 4%. What your grand daughter owes the government in new debt and the additional tax burdens placed unto her by this administration through Obamacare and the last middle class tax increase they put upon us (which they swore would NEVER happen)
far outweighs the savings she will ever see in her student loan. You are in the minority, less than 15% of America thinks we are on the right track. That's a fact you refuse to accept

American Veteran

Look at your history. It matters not if the president is a R or a D. It doesn't matter if the House or the Senate is R or D. There are and have been no significant policy changes in the last 100 years. We have forsaken sound money for a fiat currency and as a result the dollar has declined in value nearly 96% in the last 100 years. We got suckered into WW1 by Wilson, messed up the peace which resulted in WW1 part 2 (WWII), stuck our nose into Korea, Vietnam, Haiti, Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, and how many other places. Social programs began slow and picked up speed. And this was all done with the cooperation of Republicans AND Democrats. There are people who pull the strings of BOTH parties and just want to give us the illusion that we can "throw the rascals out" at any given election. The result? Superficial changes, but no real policy shift.

You play the blame game with the Republicans and Democrats without realizing that is YOU who are being played.

Ibentruitt

I'm sure you're not aware of the fact the deficit is shrinking at the fastest rate in 50 years. Where was your outrage while the Bush administration cut taxes on the 1%ers while taking us into two unpaid for wars and destroying the Surplus President Clinton left him with? Where was the talk of impeaching him for the recklessness of his administration?

We simply can't allow our government to be bullied about by extremists and extortionists like Ted Cruz and the teabaggers. God forbid our government ever falls into the hands of a thug like that.

Jim Cherry

Deficit shrinking? After 4 years of the absolute highest deficits ever recorded. Obama deficits have indeed shrunk almost 50%, and are now running about $750 billion annually. That's still higher than any Bush era deficit. He's a bullshit artist.

Bill Buechner

LOL...It was a Republican congress that forced Bill Clinton to balance the budget and bring about welfare reform first of all. The deficit is shrinking, but the debt is not. That is simply because the republicans have refused to allow this president to continue with his 1.3-1.4 trillion dollar deficits. Man. you should read and research something besides watching NBC and CNN. Ted Cruz was duly elected to perform a duty to his constituents, just like Obama was. Only difference, Ted Cruz did what the people that elected him told him to do. Obama didn't.

The Independent Thinker

I have serious concerns that either side can come to the table with the desire to do what must be done:

1. Cut spending in a rational and realistic manner,

and

2. Taxes must be raised on the higher income earners. We have had a redistribution of wealth but it's all gone up hill.

Neither of the two items set will with one party or the other.

And, while I agree that the Affordable Care Act isn't the total answer to our health care problems (20% of GDP spent on health care) it is a beginning. But, again, the solution lies at the negotiating table and all areas of health care should and must be addressed.

Time for both sides to stop their childish whining and get on with the job(s) at hand!

Jack S

Salvatore R LaRosa

Only on the backs of Seniors, Medicare recipients and Veterans. This must not be done. All money taken from Social Security, Medicare and Veterans pensions and programs must be restored. Even at the expense of Pet projects and Obamacare.

Jack S

RT Long Drive

I pray that some people in Congress and a smaller group in the Senate learn that our government can only function with both sides compromising. Additionally they should keep in mind that the Affordable Care Act is an important Law of this country and not something that they need to try and destroy. It is the law of the land.

Randy Hunt

We'll probably have a replay of the recent shutdown/default scenario. The problem, in my humble estimation, is that a minority in the Congress, which shall remain nameless, bullied the GOP into thinking that closing down the government and almost putting the country into default would force the President in caving in on The Affordable Care Act (ACA). I refuse to use the popular O***care name for that particular piece of legislation. Alexander Hamilton must by turning over in his grave, and wondering why this small minority was trying so hard to destroy the good faith and credit of this country that he was instrumental in creating. The ACA in not going away, it's here to stay just like Social Security and Medicare. Once it is fully implemented, then the Congress should get down to work on tweaking it to make it run more efficiently. Everyone should have medical care, and everyone should have medical insurance. Now instead of me, the taxpayers, paying the full freight for someone who goes to the ER without insurance, or a way to pay the bills, the insurance that everyone should have will pay. Sure I'll still be paying taxes to make up the subsidies that people will get, but it sure will be a lot less. That small minority in the House obviously doesn't know that the art of government is compromise, not 'my way or the highway.'

Cora Ryan

I believe it was the President who kept repeating "I will not negotiate". He does not know the meaning of compromise. ObamaCare is not ready, and if you are going to exempt business & unions, then everyone should have an exemption until such time as they get the problems fixed.

Jack S

Ibentruitt

No President should ever be expected to negotiate with extortionists or terrorists.

I hope I never see the day when thugs like Ted Cruz and the teabagger party force changes to our laws. There's a process for making laws. They believed they could bully President Obama into a compromise. Thank God the President didn't let them succeed. I don't want my government run by a bunch of thugs. They committed a seditious act by shutting down our government and should be brought to justice.

Jim Cherry

Medical insurance should be just like Cadillacs; only the people who want it should buy it. The expense problem arises in part because politicians in their wisdom decreed that hospitals must care for all comers, regardless of ability to pay. Let medical providers go back to a fee-for-service model, and let everyone worry about his own financial situation. It works for food; it works for shelter; it works for cars, and TVs, and every other thing in life. It'll work for healthcare, too. If we let it.

Jimbmw

Finally can agree with our commander in chief: "If you don't like a law, GO WIN AN ELECTION!" Hope the conservatives take that message to the polls! It IS the only way! Sadly, many stayed home as they didn't see their "Ronald Regan" on the ballot.

American Veteran

Problem is, there is no substantial difference in the policy of the two major parties. Whenever you "vote the rascals out" or chose "the lesser evil", you are essentially voting "NO CHANGE". The third parties are mostly just some variation of their big brothers. Vote independent... if your state will let you.

Ruger

Your commander-in-chief (Lord it makes me sick to say that!) seems to think that because he won re-election he can change laws as he sees fit. He just ignored the welfare reform laws Clinton enacted, he ignored the Defense of Marriage Act, he ignores the Constitution by putting unalienable rights up for public debate, and in other words he does as he damn well pleases. I will follow his example and pick and choose the laws I will respect and that is not negotiable. Barack Obama is the perfect example of the need for intelligence tests before allowing citizens to vote.

drfoo

How Can we expect them to pass a budget by January when they have been unable or unwilling to do so for the past five (5 ) years. It is unfortunate that members of the House and Senate are so wrapped up in party politics that they cannot, will not listen to the people. For the past five years it has been spend , spend, spend , without any thoughts as to the consequences.

js2486836

We are saddled with a president who is not qualified to lead the best military in the world. His own speeches prove this. Obama said that it was time for the U.S. to step back and let someone else take the lead for a change. Think of what the view is when you are not the lead dog. He supports the Muslim Brotherhood and Arab Spring, both terrorist back actions. Then he passes hundreds of executive orders, but not to allow World War 2 vets into their own memorial. This is why I feel that anyone who wants to be Commander-in-chief MUST have honorably served, either six years active or 10 years Guard or reserve. With all his spending he seems to be out to put the country into a crisis, there by eliminating elections.

Grady Olson

How can you compare Medicare and social security to Obama health plan? Both Medicare and social security went through the proper procedures. Debates and amendments from both sides and committee recommendations. Then was voted and was non-partisan passage. Obama's plan had none of this.

John Schwartz

The government will continue to use the "catastrophic threat of government shutdown" to pass more bills that will be bad for the country (but good for the super rich, corporations, and bankers). I do not believe that a government default would be that great a deal. It would only mean that the super rich and wall street bankers would not make as much money an they had planned!

Don Blanchard

The first thing that needs to be done, is to start impeachment hearings. Ol' Barry has been in violation of the Constitution for the last 5 years! As long as there is no budget, he can spend another trillion at a whim! I can not believe how stupid people have become and don't seem to care what their own government is doing to them! This president is NOT a leader, he's just a BS artist playing the blame game! This is not becoming the country I served for, we are going from being a super power to being a bunch of super suckers! I would like to see EVERYONE in DC fired, and bring back a government based on the Constitution!

American Veteran

If the House DID impeach, the trial would take place in the Senate. Can you really believe that Harry and the boys would EVER convict? Waste of time. Barry is there until his term ends. Next up? Hillary! She will trounce McConnell or Graham or whoever the neocon Republican candidate is.
Not pretty, just a fact.